Suction cleaner



F. L. PIERCE suc'nowcmmmz Filed July 8, 1939 Sept. 29, 1942.

R O T N E V m e 0 M I I ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 29, 1942 Frank L.Pierce,

North Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio,at

corporation of Ohio Application July 8, 1939, Serial No. 283,331 11Claims. (01. 15-6) v The present invention relates to suction cleanersin general and particularly to new and novel improvements in suctioncleaner agitators.

More specifically the-invention comprises a rotary agitator for asuction cleaner which embodies rigid beating elements and flexiblebrushing elements which are automatically adjustable for selectivecleaning operations at varying speeds of agitator rotation.

It is an object of the present invention .toprovide a new and improvedsuction cleaner. It is another object of the invention to provide a newand improved suction cleaner agitator. A still further object of theinvention is to provide a new and improved rotary agitator for a suctioncleaner embodying automatically adjustable rigid beating elements andflexible brush elements.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a rotary agitatorfor a suction cleaner in which the radial extension of the rigid beatingelements and flexible brush elements changes at different speeds ofagitator rotation. Still another object of the invention is to provide arotary agitator for a suction cleaner-in which at one speed of agitatorrotation the rigid beating elements and flexible brush elements have thesame radial projection while at a second speed of agitator rotation therigid beater elements have a lesser radial projection and the flexiblebrush elements have a greater projection. These and 1 other morespecific objects will appear upon reading the following specificationand claims and upon considering in connection therewith the attacheddrawing to which they relate. Referring now to the drawing in which apreferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated:

Figure 1 is a front view of a suction cleaner embodying the presentinvention with a transverse section shown through the nozzle toillustrate the agitator positioned therein;

Figure 2 is a transverse section through the agitator upon the line 2-2of Figure l and illustrates the agitator rotating at high speed and thebeater element at its maximum radial extension;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but with the agitator rotating atlow speed, or inoperative, and the beater element at its minimum radialextension;

Figure 4 is a section similar to Figure 2 but taken upon the line 4-4 ofFigure 1;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the agitator;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical circuit of the cleanermotor.

of one half The modern suction cleaner embodies suctionwithin thefiltering means of the-cleaner.

creating means and surface-agitating means to accomplish its cleaningfunction. In the cleaning of surface coverings the rigid beating meansof the agitator vibrates the surface covering to dislodge therefrom theforeign material. The flexible brush elements of the agitator straightenthe pile of the surface covering and give to it a better appearance. Thesuction-creating means pick up the dislodged foreign material, carry itinto the suction cleaner, and finally deposit it These functions are oldand well known in suction cleaners of today.

The modern suction cleaner, however, should also be able to clean barefloors uncovered by a covering. In cleaners embodying rotary agitatorsthe rigid beater elements are unadapted for contact with bare, hardfloors while the flexible brush elements are adapted for such contact.In the suction cleaner constructed inaccordance with the presentinvention the cleaner agitator is so designed that at c 'tical speeds ofrotation the rigid beater elements and flex'ble brush elements havediflering radial extensions so that, when the cleaner is used upon abare floor the operator need only cause the agitator to be rotated at aparticular speed to give to the flexible brush elements the properradial adjustment to permit them to sweep the bare floors while therigid beater elements will be so positioned as .to be inoperative withrespect thereto.

Referring again to the drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of theinvention is illustrated, a modern suction cleaner is disclosed with theagitator constructed in accordance with this invention embodied therein.The cleaner is seen to comprise a nozzle I a rotatable agitator 2 andwhich includes rigid beating elements 3 and flexible brush elements 4. Afan chamber 5 houses a suction-creating fan 6 which is driven by thedependingshaft I of the cleaner driving motor which is unshown but whichis of any ordinary typeand is positioned within the motor housing 8immediately above the .fan chamber 5. A power-transmitting belt 9 drivesthe rotary agitator 2 from the lower end of the motor shaft. The cleaneris movably supported upon wheels II and, as .in the usual suctioncleaner, a pivoted handle I2 is provided which carries the incomingcurrent-conductor I3 and also provides means by which the operator canexert a propelling force.

The agitator 2 is seen body I4 which is formed ing beater element seati5 to comprise a cylindrical with a helically extendwithin which thewithin which is positioned Withthe cleaner inoperative and the rotaryagitator standing still the relationship of the beater element 3 and thebrush back l3, respectively. A small screw 25 extends through the backI! and intoscrew threaded relationship with the lug 24 to provide adetachable connection. Link 22 functions to insure conjoint radialmovement of opposed brush and heater elements. The seats l5 mount therigid beater elements 3 for radial adjustment which is accomplished by'aslight rotating or screwing movement. A slight clearance is providedbetween the seat and the sides of the rigid beater elements, which areseen to extend parallel to a central radius in any given plane ofintersection, as illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Transverselyextending guide pins 21 at the ends of the rigid beater elementscooperate with slots 23 in the seats is to insure proper alignment. Inthe case of the brush element the pivotal mounting i3 thereof insuresproper movement in all positions. The agitator is seen to be rot atablysupported by the longitudinally extending shaft 30 which is suitably andremovably supported by common and well known means at the nozzle andwalls. At the ends of the bottom of each rigid beater element seat l5there are provided fiat leaf beater and brush elements, which can beconsidered in pairs, one upon each side of the driving belt, is asillustrated in Figure 3. The coil springs. acting upon the brush element4 exerts a force which overcomes, through the intermediate link 22, theopposing force exerted by the leaf springs I! in the rigid elementchannel. As a result the brush is pivoted to its outermost position. Ifthe cleaner is placed in operation by the operator moving the manuallyoperable switch 33 into contact with conductor 31 so that the motor andagitator rotate at slow speed, no change takes place in the relativeradial extensions of the rigid beater element and flexible brush elementupon the-rotation of the agitator. In that relationship it is to benoted that the flexible brush I extends to a much greaterradial'distance than the rigid beater element 3 and the agitator is somounted within the nozzle i that in this condition the brush element 4extends through the nozzle mouth so that it is adapted to sweep barefloors springs l6 which contact the underside of the beater element 3and prevent chattering. Springs l6 act in opposition to coil springs 20in each beater and brush pair. The springs 20, however, are the strongerand with the agitator rotating at low speed or standing still thesprings i6 acting on each brush are overcome by the coil springs 20 withthe result that the rigid beater element 3 and the flexible brushelement are positioned as illustrated in Figure 3.

The cleaner driving motor is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 6 inwhich the motor is indicated by the reference character M and it is seenthat the armature and field windings are connected in series. Onecurrent conducting lead 33 connects to one side of the field directly.The other incoming current-conducting lead 34 first passes through amanually operable switch 35 so that it is connectible either to theouter terminal of the field winding, by means of the intermediateconductor 31, or to a midpoint thereof, by means of the intermediateconductor 36. In' the former case the entire motor field is in serieswith the armature and the motor rotates at low speed. In the latter casea part of the motor field is omitted and the motor rotates at highspeed. As the rotary agitator 2 is directly connected to the shaft 1 ofthe driving motor by the belt ,8, the speed of rotation of the motordirectly controls the speed of rotation of the agitator and the operatorhas it within his power to vary agitator speed simply byshifting theposition of manually operable switch 35 which in the usual suctioncleaner will be positioned at the upper end of the handle l2.

The operation of the suction cleaner constructed in accordance with thepresent invention is as follows:

underlying the cleaner. The rigid beater element 3, however, beingextended to a much lesser radial extension does. not extend through theplane of the nozzle mouthand does not contact an underlying supportingsurface, be it fioor or rug. If the operator now changes the position ofthe manually operable switch 35 from conductor 31 over to conductor 36,the speed of the motor is immediately increased. The agitator rotates ata higher speed and thereupon the greater mass of the rigid beaterelement 3 exerts a centrifugal force which overcomes the opposingsprings 20 and causes the rigid beater element to move radially outwardin its seat I! and results in the moving inwardly of the brushelementcausing that element to pivot about its supporting axis l8 from theposition illustrated in Figure 3 to the position illustrated in Figure4. When so positioned'the rigid beater element and the flexible brushelement have substantially the same radial extension and in theoperation of the cleaner upon a surface covering undergoing cleaning thecovering lifted into contact with the nozzle mouth will be contacted andacted unon by both the rigid beating element and the flexible brushelement. v

The advantages of the invention are obvious. When the operator uses themachine upon a surface covering he actuates the machine at high speedand the surface covering is lifted by the suction-creating meanseffective within the nozzle i and into contact with the nozzle and withthe rotary agitator. The rigid beating elements 3, 3 upon each side ofthe agitator, strike and beat the surface covering undergoing cleaningwhile the flexible brush elements brush that covering. The suctioncauses a flow of cleaning air through the nozzle which carries away theforeign material dislodged. If the machine is pushed onto a bare fioorwhich the operator wishes to clean, he merely causes the machine torotate decrease in rotational speed causes the rigid beater element 3 ineach instance to exercise a lesser centrifugal force to permit the coilsprings 20 to pivot the brush elements to their maximum radial extensionand to withdraw the rigid beating elements in each instance. The brushelements sweep the underlying bare fioor, the foreign material beingcarried away by the flow of air into the nozzle.

- I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner a rotary agitator, in-

I claim characterized in that eluding a rigid beater and a flexiblebrush, means movably mounting said beater and brush for radial movementrelative to the axis of rotation during agitator rotation, said beaterbeing adapted to exert a greater centrifugal force than said brush at apredetermined speed of rotation, means interconnecting said beater andbrush to move said beater inwardly upon outward movement of said brushand vice versa, and means pposing and overcoming the centrifugal forceof said beater below said predetermined speed of rotation.

' 2. In a suction cleaner, a rotary agitator including a body, meansrotatably supporting said body, a rigid beater radially adjustable onsaid body during rotation, a flexible brush radially adjustable onsaidbody duringrotation and a linkage interconnecting said beater and brushwithin said body to efiect simultaneous inward radial movement of saidbeater and outward radial movement of said brush relative to the axis ofrotation, and vice versa, during agitator -rotation.

. and beater to effect the opposition of the centrifugal forces of saidbeater and brush andthe conjoint movement thereof, and means to exert aforce additive to the centrifugal force exerted by said brush toovercome the centrifugal force exerted by said beater to hold saidbeater at a minimum radial extension below a predetermined speed ofrotation only, saidbeater element exerting a greater centrifugal forcethan said brush element.

4. In a rotary agitator for a suction cleaner, a rigid beater, aflexible brush, said beater being of greater mass mounting said beaterand brush for rotation about an axis, means interconnecting said beaterand brush for conjoint and opposite radial movement relative to the axisof rotation, the connections placing the centrifugal forces of saidbrush and heater in opposition, and spring means exerting a forcesupplemental to the centrifugal force of said brush to overcome thecentrifugal force of said beater element below a predetermined speed ofrotation to hold said brush at a maximum radial extension.

5. The construction defined by the preceding speed of rotation the.centrifugal force exerted by said beater element overcomes the combinedforces exerted by said brush and spring to move said beater element toits maximum radial extension..

6. In a rotary agitator for a suction cleaner, a beater unit including abeater surface and a mass, 9. brush unit including a flexible brushsurface and a mass, said masses being unequal, means mounting'saidbeater surface and brush surface for rotation about an axis and for freelimited radial movement relative thereto, and means interconnecting themasses of said units to exert opposing centrifugal forces in therotation of saidagitator and to effect the conjoint and opposite radialmovement of said beater and brush than said brush, means floatingly at apredetermined surfaces relative to the axis of rotation, and meansadapted to exert a substantially constant force supplemental to thecentrifugal force exerted by the smaller mass.

'7. In a rotary agitator for a suction cleaner, a beater unit includinga beater surface and a mass, a brush unit including a flexible brushsurface and a lesser mass, means mounting said beater surface and brushsurface for rotation about an axis and for free radial movement relativethereto,'means exerting a constant force supplementing the centrifugalforce of the brush unit mass and adapted to overcome the centrifugalforce of said beater unit mass below a predetermined speed of rotationto force said brush surface to its outermost radial position, and meansconnecting the masses of said units in opposition and said beater andbrush surfaces for conjoint and opposite radial movement relative to theaxis of rotation.

"8. In a suction cleaner, a body, a rotary agitator includingcentrifugally responsive radially adjustable beater and brush elements,a variable speed motor to rotate said agitator at a plurality of speeds,and speed-responsive means to adjust said brush element to a maximumradial extension at one speed of rotation and to adjust said heaterelementrto a maximum radial extension at a different speed of rotation,

tor including a centrifugally-responsive radiallyadjustablehelically-extending beater element and an axially-extending brushelement, variable maximum radial extension at one speed of rotation andto adjust said beater element to a rotation.

10. In a suction cleaner agitator, a hollow cylindrical body, means 'tosupport said body for rotation about its major axis. a beater elementmounted in said body for radial movement, a brush element mounted insaid body for radial movement, means within said body interconnectingsaid heater and brush elements for conjoint and opposite radialmovements. characterized in that said beater and brush elementsareradially movable by centrifugal force in agitator rotation, in that saidbeater element exerts a greater centrifugal force than said brushelement, and in that means are provided to comadjust certain of saidelements to a maximum radial extension at one speed of rotation and toadjust certain other of said elements to a maxi-.

mum radial extension at a different speed of rotation, said'spring meansurging said flrst-referred to certain elements outwardly and said otherof said certain elements inwardly.

, V FRANK L. PIECE.

9. In a suction cleaner, a body, a rotary agitamaximum radial extensionat a different speed of I l

